Ridiculous(ly gorgeous)

Quickly after Lake Tekapo comes Lake Pukaki, another one of those ridiculously gorgeous lakes, with the added bonus of seeing Aoraki/Mt. Cook in the background. I mean, how stunning is this?

It was a bit of a hassle getting to the parking lot, because I think we overshot it the first time and had to turn back. I wasn’t about to miss soaking up some Aoraki and Pukaki views though! And my mom agreed it was worth a stop.

Again, this was a short stop on our way from Christchurch to Wanaka. But you simply can’t travel south and not stop here! We didn’t drive to Mt. Cook Village as that would have added an hour and a half to our already long drive. But this view was stunning enough to fill up our senses even more than they already were. Because the South Island is a stunner! Not that the North Island isn’t (on the contrary, it’s beautiful!)…I personally just feel more connected to the South Island.

My comment got cut off when I accidentally hit send too early. Meant to say that there is only a few buildings around the Mt Cook Village, so unless the weather is fine to see the mountain and you are hiking, there is not much point to continue to the village. I wrote about my visit there, quite a few years back now on my blog if you want to have a look: https://forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/lunch-with-edmund-at-760-metres/